Bonnetina cyaneifemur question.

frolosophy

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 10, 2010
Messages
4
Hey, I have a 3" juvenile female, B. cyaneifemur and after settling into her new home, she webbed a funnel-type entrance to her burrow. However, she sealed off the entrance to her burrow with webbing and has remained inside for about 5 days. Since I introduced her to her new enclosure about 2 weeks ago she has been fairly active digging and webbing and climbing around until now. I expect this kind of behavior with a T in premoult, but she has been eating regularly and has been exhibiting no other signs of premoult. I have heard that this species is generally out in the open and has even been known to neglect it's hide/borrow. My question is, am I keeping her improperly, or is this just normal juvenile behavior?

I keep her in a 5.5 gallon terrarium with 100% peat moss substrate, with temp and humidity at 82F and 60 percent, respectively. Is she perhaps staying in her burrow because it is a cooler/moister environment? I have searched quite a bit about this species and most keepers tend to hold that normal temp and dry with a water dish is ideal for this species. Should I up the humidity? I've been keeping an eye on her during nights with a red light and she hasn't been any more active than during the day. I am just curious because no where that I have searched has anyone mentioned anything about them being pet holes. Any information will be appreciated.

Thanks.

Here she is a few days ago before she sealed herself in.


 

J.huff23

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 23, 2007
Messages
3,015
Its normal for Ts to seal themselves up for long periods of time. This could be a sign of an upcoming molt. I have heard some people say that their Ts stopped eating just days before molting.Or the T just doesnt want to be disturbed.
 

frolosophy

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 10, 2010
Messages
4
Thanks for the input

I figured that could be a possible reason, but I've never known a T to eat days before a moult. I'll try to feed her tomorrow by disturbing the web at the entrance to her burrow and see if she is interested.

I have noted that this seems to be a fairly uncommon species in the trade and there isn't a whole lot of readily accessed information regarding them. I might just be misinformed of their behavior.
 

Joanie

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 4, 2002
Messages
205
I have a juvenile female B. cyaneifemur and she has made a beautiful webbed hide/burrow thing, and spends at least 90% of her time in it. She emerges to eat and that's about it. She's webbed herself into it for days at a time, and then rips the "doorway" web down and leaves it open for awhile before webbing herself back in. She webs herself in when she molts, but also other times, seemingly randomly.
I've only had the one B. cyaneifemur, so I can't say what the normal behavior of the species is, but I can say that mine behaves similarly to yours at least. :)
 

frolosophy

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 10, 2010
Messages
4
Thanks Joanie

This is my first/only B. cyaneifemur. She emerged and wandered around for a bit yesterday for the first time in about a week. May I ask how you keep yours - temperature, humidity, etc.? I figure this must be normal juvenile behavior, and anything I've heard about them being exhibitionist pertains to adults rather than juveniles and slings.
 

Musicwolf

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jul 2, 2010
Messages
283
Well, I'm definitely not familiar with this species, but it looks like a beautiful T at least . . . . I may have to check into them more :D
 

Joanie

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 4, 2002
Messages
205
@ frolosophy -- I'm not super hardcore about temps; our animal room varies from 78 - 83 degrees F in the summer and stays in the low 70s in the winter. My B. cyaneifemur is in a standard kritter keeper type of cage with the finer type of coconut fiber bedding, mixed with a little peat moss. She has a good-sized waterdish that I (usually :rolleyes:) keep filled, and I overflow it once a week or so to wet a little of the surrounding substrate. The area where she chose to build her web hide is in the driest part of the cage, though, and I don't notice her hanging out near the waterdish very often at all, so I'd guess humidity is not one of her bigger concerns. When I do see her outside her web, it's usually at dusk/early evening, though like I said, she's webbed herself into it for days at a time on many occasions.
 
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frolosophy

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 10, 2010
Messages
4
Yeah, I'm not too concerned with humidity after checking out a photo of their natural habitat on Rick West's website (http://www.birdspiders.com/gallery/p.php/789). Thanks again for the input.

Musicwolf,
They certainly are beautiful. I've only had mine for a couple of weeks, so I've yet to see post-moult colouration, but I hear it's amazing.
 
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